Electrically controlled lock



March 7, 1939. I J. M. WILHELM 29,149,695v

l ELECTRICALIJY CONTROLLED LOCK Filed sept. s, 1955 Patented Mar. 7, 1939 i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELEG'l'ltICALLY CONTROLLED LOCK James M. Wilhelm, Marletta, Ohio Application September 3.1935, Serial No. 38,997 1 claim.; (ci. 29e- 144) This invention relates to electrically controlledy locks and more particularly to locks of thls'character applied to automobile gasoliney tanks, and has for an object to provide novel means controlled by a normally open circuit for locking the cap to the lling tube, the circuit closing switch being located within the vehicle body so that opening of the cap by unauthorized persons will be positively prevented.

A further object is to provide a signal device preferably a lamp bulb, a normally open circuit,A

and a circuit closer in the circuit controlled by opening and closing of the cap to energize the lamp during the period the cap is open and extinguish the lamp when the cap is closed,

A further object is to provide a device of this character which will be formed of a few, strong, simple, and durable parts, which will be easy to manufacture, and which will not easily get out of order.

With the above and other objects'in view the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, it being understood that various modications may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claim without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention. l

In the accompanying drawing forming part of this specication,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through an electrically controlled gasoline tank lock constructed in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the manually controlled circuit closer in applied position on the cap by webs I5 and the bore ofthe annulus regcap I I. The latch depends from the cap and enters the filling tube and is held rocked on the pivot toward one side of the filling tube by means 5f a helical spring 2l which is interposed between a projection 22 on the latch and the underneath face of the lug 20. A stop tooth 23 on the latch engages an abutment 24 on the lug and limits rocking movement of the latch toward the side of the tube.

- A solenoid 25 is disposed on the exterior of the filling tube below the base ring I3 and is concealed in a housing 26 which is secured to the tube by screws 21 or other suitable connectors. The solenoid is provided with a core 28 which is spring pressed outwardly by means of a helical spring 29 disposed in the solenoid in rear of the core. The core is provided at the outer end with a tongue 30 which projects through an opening formed in the -lling tube and engages in a notch 3l formed in the latch I8 to normally hold the cap locked in closed position on the illllng tube.

For energizing the solenoid to withdraw the core from the latch and permit the cap to be opened, a circuit closer is provided within the body of the vehicle, and preferably is located on the instrument board 32. The circuit closer, in the present embodiment of the invention, comprises a cylindrical housing 33 which is passed through an opening 34 in the instrument board and is secured to the instrument board by a nut 35 threaded on to the housing and engaged against the rear face of the instrument board, and a flanged nut 36 threaded into the bore of the housing and engaged against the front face of the instrument board. A push button 3l, preferably formed of glass is slidably fitted in the ange of the nut 36 and is held at its outer limit of movement against a stop shoulder 38 on the nut, by means of a leaf spring 39 which is secured to, and insulated from, the inner Wall of the housing as shown at 4U.

The housing 33 is closed at the end opposite the push button by means of a disc 4I of insulating material and binding posts 42 and 43 are mounted on the disc. A conductor wire 44 isrconnected at one end to the binding post 42 and bears at the opposite end against the leaf spring 39. A' conductor wire 45'is connected at one end to the binding postl 43 and bears at its opposite end against a switch contact 46 which is insulated from the housing and is in the path of movement of the spring 39 when deformed by movement of the push button 31 inwardly, to close the circuit for energizing the solenoid 25.

The binding post 42 is connected by a con- Cil ductor wire 41 to a binding post 48 which is carried by and insulated from the solenoid housing 26, one end of the solenoid coil being connected to the binding post by means of a wire 49 and the opposite end of the solenoid coil being grounded to the housing as shown at 50. From the battery 5| a conductor wire 52 is led to a binding post 53 on the insulating disc closure 4| of the push button housing. The `binding post 53 is in contact with the center terminal of a lamp bulb 54, the other threaded terminal 55 of the bulb being screwed into a socket 56 which is connected by `a clip 51 to the conductor wire 45.

The energizing circuit of the solenoid 25 is normally open. When the push button 31 is depressed a closed circuit may be traced from the battery 5| through the wire 52, signal lamp 54, clip 51, conductor wire 45, fixed contact 46, spring switch contact 33, conductor wire 44, wire 41, and solenoid coil to the ground, to 'energize the .solenoid and withdraw the core 28.from the latch I8. During energizing of this circuit the signal lamp 54 will glow and illuminate the transparent push button 31 upon which is preferably marked the word open as shown at 58 in Figure 3.

. Upon release of the push button 31 the energizing circuit for the solenoid is broken by disengagement of the spring contact 39 from the xed contact 46 but it will be here pointed out that the signal lamp 54 is maintained in `a glowing condition by a circuit closer operated by opening movement of the cap and controlling an associated circuit as will now be described. A housing 59 is provided with a marginal flange 60 through which screws 6| are passed into the filling tube l0. The housing is arranged below the hinged end of the cap. A binding post 62 is secured to the housing and insulated therefromand is connected by aconductor wire 63 to the binding post 43 of the signal `lamp housing 33. y A stationary switch contact 64 is arranged on the housing 59 above the binding post 62 and is grounded to the housing. A U-shaped movable switch contact 65 is slidably mounted on the binding post 62, there lbeing a slot 66 in one leg of the switch contact loosely receiving a reduced neck 61 of the binding post. The same leg of the movable contact is bifurcated at the end as shown at 68 to embrace a reduced neck 69 on the xed contact 64 to close the circuit through the wire 63 when the movable contact is slid upwardly into engagement with the xed contact.

A rod 10 is slidably fitted in superposed openings in the housing 59 and base ring I3 and is plvotally connected at the lower end to the'free leg of the movable switch contact 65 as shown at 1|. The upper end of the rod is provided with a head 12 which is pressed downward by the cap to seat on the base ring I3 in which position the rod holds the movable switch contact 65 open. A helical spring 13 is mounted on the rod and is conned under tension between a stop collar 14 on the rod and the top of the housing 59. The spring tends to normally, hold the rod raised and the movable switchficontact closed.

When the 'solenoid 25 is energized to withdraw the core 28 from the latch I8 the cap is unlocked and simultaneously therewith the spring 13 urges the rod 16 upward ,to swing openthe cap and engage the movable switch contact 65 with the fixed.

`switch contact'64 to maintain the signal lamp 54 in glowing condition until the cap is closed. When the cap is manually closed after the gasoline supply has been replenished the cap forces therod 10 downward to disengage the movable switch contact-65 fronrthe fixed switch contact 64 and open the energizing circuit of the signal lamp. e

From the above description it is thought that the construction and operation of my invention will be fully understoodwithout further explanation.

What is claimed is:

A latching device for use with a gasoline lling tube and a hinged cap for the tube having a spring connected tothe cap and to the tube for opening the cap, comprising a latch adapted to be pivotally mounted on the bottom face of the cap and extend into the tube, a spring connected to the latch adjacent to the pivot for normally holding the latch pressed toward the tube in operative position, a solenoid, a spring pressed core for the solenoid having a tongue adapted to project laterally into the interior of the tube below the upper end thereof and having a terminal cam surface, a head on said latch having a notch receiving the extreme end of said core to hold the cap closed against the tension of its controlling spring, there being a cam surface on the head below the notch engageable with the cam surface of the core to permit the latch riding over the core when the cap is closed until the extreme end of the core registers with said notch, the controlling spring of the latch forcing the latch to operative position with the tongue fitted in the extreme end of the notch and lock the cap closed, and means for energizing the solenoid to withdraw the core from the notch and permit the controlling spring of the cap to swing the cap open.

JAMESM. AWILI-Ililllili/I. 

